The Runaway
by AODtrunks lover
Summary: Somethings up with Eli. She keeps running away, but why? The Z warriors try to uncover the truth. Dark themes ahead, foul language. Complete!
1. Prolouge

This is a major turning point in everyone's life, especially Eli's.  
Several months ago, Eli's mother and two older brothers were mysteriously brought back to life. At first Eli was gunshy of their presence around her. "We've changed!" they pleaded. "We'll never hurt you, not ever again!" they swore.  
After a week of constant persuation and promises; Eli moved into the house with her mother, Kira, and her two older brothers, Icer and Frost. And again after three weeks, Kira brought home her boyfriend; Brutis.  
Eli didn't like this guy, she expressed this a lot; not too many of her friends paid close attention to this, though. After all; Eli didn't like strangers.

This marks the beginging of the end. The Z warriors have seen their share of gore and viciousness in their lives, but they've all lived somewhat naively in their own worlds with one another. This marks the beginging of the end for this naivity, the end of their rose-colored glasses.


	2. Time in the woods

Trunks and Goten walked towards Eli's house. They had seen so little of her recently, it'd be nice to see her again. As they came upon the door they saw that there was a small envelope tacked to the door. Trunks carefully tore it off.

_"Meet me in our woods. Siarra should already be there."  
-Eli_

Goten and Trunks both shrugged their shoulders. No big thing, Eli routinely liked to speak with them all in private any way; away from the parents stepping in and editing every single word out of her mouth.

Eli and Siarra were indeed in their little 'house' in the woods. Eli sat in the slip-shod bench and Siarra in the chair near it. Eli's hands were clasped on her knees and her head staring into the ground. Siarra looked as if she had been sitting there for a while, and was getting impatient.  
"So what is it you wanted to tell us?" Goten asked  
"Well," Eli began,"I found out this morning that the relationship between my mother and Brutis has been going on longer than I thought it had."  
"How long has it been going on?" Siarra asked.  
"Long enough for me to have a four-year-old little brother." Eli answered, exasperation and sarcasim not absent from her voice.  
"You have a little brother!" Trunks asked excitedly. "What's his name?"  
Eli's head raised slightly, not much but still. "Chill..."

They had spoke more about unimportant things for another hour before Siarra had to leave, and another half-hour before Goten left. Trunks had noticed during all the conversations that Eli didn't have her usual demeanor. No cocky responses, no sarcasim, no Eli-ness.  
"What's wrong with you?" Trunks asked.  
"Me! Nothin'" came Eli's responce. Trunks had no belief in her answer.  
"Come on. You can tell me if somethings wrong." Trunks said plaintively, inching closer to where Eli was sitting.  
She sighed. "Trunks, if I told you something really disturbing, you would believe me right?"  
"Of course." Trunks responded, sidling even closer.  
Just as Eli opened her mouth to speak, the two thirteen-year-olds heard a gruff and angry sounding voice coming from the wood and heading towards them. "Girl! Where you at!"  
Brutis came crashing through the brush, his demeanor softening when he saw the two.  
"You've got to tell us where you're going. Your mother's worried sick." Brutis said softly, almost like a father. Eli got up silently and she and Brutis walked in quiet peacefulness back to her family's house.  
"How nice." Trunks thought. "Eli finally has a family."

For the next few days Trunks mused over the conversation in the woods. Why was Eli acting like this? Why didn't she act so cocky? So normally bitchy? Not that Trunks didn't like the bitchyness; in all honesty it turned him on. But, staying on subject, Trunks was slightly worried. But, then remembering just who Eli was gave him another idea, she was probably just having one of those 'female' days when their 'monthly friend' came to visit. For a brief second, Trunks was extremely happy to be a male.  
"Eli's fine." He told himself. "Yeah, just fine."


	3. It Begins

One year had now passed since that day in the woods. Thus marked the begining of the end. Thisis the day of great regret. This day marked the end of all the days of slight naivity. This is the day that would live in infamy in all the Z warriors hearts.

5 saiyan battles raged at once. Vegeta and Goku's power levels soared as they eachduked it out. Goten andTrunkswere currently trying to overpower one another with their special ki attacks. Gohan simplydarted from one battle to another, looking for an opening in whichto inflict damage. In fact, each of the boys were so caught up in theirbattlethat they didn't see the other two saiyans standing idly by, waiting patiently with arms folded, for the battles to cease. They didn't noticed the two eldestchildren of Kira; Icer and Frost.  
Goku was the first to notice the two youths standing near the new battle scene. He halted the other battles so Icer and Frost wouldn't inadvertantly be injured.  
"Something you guys need?" Goku asked in his normally happy-go-lucky tone.  
"Yeah," Frost answered stoicly. "You all can help us find our sister."  
"Find her!" Trunks gasped. "Where is she!" Goten asked slightly franticly.  
"If we knew, we wouldn't be asking for help." Icer answered.

"This is pathetic!" Vegeta snarled under his breath. "I've been reduced to a nanny!"

It was true. All the Z warriors had been searching all over the place for hours upon hours on end. Even those who didn't normally use colorfull language were resorting to it by now. Needless to say, none of them were really happy. Hell, 'not really happy' was an understatement. Everyone was downright pissed!

Trunks looked around quickly, both with his eyes and his ki radar. After this ten-second search he continued to spew a line of purely unprintable language from his mouth. "Nothin'" he muttered miserably. Suddenly, something told him to turn around. Just at the right time. There standing directly in his line of view, not twenty feet from him, was theblack wolf with the white star on it's chest.  
"Eli!" he whispered maniacly.  
They shared one brief second ofuninterruptedeye contact, before Eli began to run opposite Trunks.  
Trunks took off in a flying leap, landing directly on Eli's back; forcing her to morph back into her humanoid form. They both tumbled a few feet with them both coming to a halt, with Trunks pinning Eli down.  
"Where in the hell have you been!" Trunks practically screamed. "Do you have the slightest clue as to how long we've been out looking for you! Do you!" He proceeded. That's when he noticed something truely odd. Eli wasn't fighting back.  
Suddenly Goku instantly transmitted in front of them. Eli gulped. Goku crossed his arms sorely.  
"We can do this two ways," He began slowly, controlling his anger. "You can be a civilized being and walk, or I can haul you in. Your call."  
Eli rotated her head, allowing the cool, green grass to brush her cheek. "You know I walk." She said defeatedly.

"Oh thank you Goku! Oh my baby! Thank You!" Kira gushed upon seeing Eli in the arms of Goku. Kira clutched Eli to herand stroked her hair emphatically, continuing her spew of thanks. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Brutis came up behind the two women. "Welcome back sweetie." He said, adding his ownhand tostroke the mass of blondehair. "But, you do realize you'll have to be punished for running off and not telling us." He continued.  
"How sweet. Eli should be ashamed for running off and worring these people like that. " Goku thought, a slight smirk adorning his face. Kira gushed onelast 'Thank You' before proceeding to shut the door.

Gokucouldn't explain it. As he walked away, and as the light of the door from the house was extinguished by the door shutting, he felt his stomach inexplicably turn over inside him.


	4. Chronicles of the Runaway

So it continued for another year. Anywhere from a space from a few days, to a week, to a month; Icer and Frost would inadvertantly show up and ask for help in finding their runaway sister.  
Everytime Eli ran a different warrior brought her home. One time it may be Trunks,Siarra,or one of the younger warriors bringing her back.Another time she ran therisk of being caught by one of the older warriors, and that was usually worse because they would bawl her out more for the running. Each time she would try a new technique to keep herself off the otherZwarriors mental radars, to the Z warriors it seemed like she was trying to give them some time to cool off; when it was doing just the opposite. Itonly gave them more time to be pissed at her.  
The most disturbing thing the other Z warriors noticed was the remarkable personality change in Eli. She wasn't cocky, didn't fight back, didn't act like herself. The only glimmer of her usual self emerged when they would bring her back to her family's house. She would look directly in to Brutis' eyes, and that's when you could see the real Eli. Her eyes seemed to say _"Fuck you! Fuck you I got what I wanted!" _  
But, hey! Who in their right mind would base a suspicion on looks given by a runaway teenager?

Piccolo sat quietly in the tree, his emerald skin a brilliant camaflouge. He'd been sitting there for the past few hours. He wanted to take a new approach to catching Eli. He figured if he chased, she would run. So Piccolo just decided to simply set a trap. He used his ki to make an invisible ki lasso. It laid amog the dry and dying leaves and twigs, invisible. Piccolo stretched his arm and hand slightly, trying to relieve the tension that had been growing for some time.  
His ears picked up the sound of leaves crackling and twigs snapping.  
"Here she comes..." Piccolo thought in preperation.  
Eli ran directly under him, turning around and looking franticly about. Piccolo could hear her laboured and exhauseted breath. She was one-half of a step from where she needed to be.  
"Come on. Come on. Step back. Step back." Piccolo's silent mantra continued in his mind like a broken record player.  
Eli took a cautious step back in order to balance herself so she could continue running. It was all Piccolo needed.  
His arm retracted sharply, making the ki lasso visible and hauling Eli off her feet and upside down.  
"Fuck..." She muttered.  
Now Piccolo was beyond angery. When he'd been asked to find Eli, he'd been within reach of teaching Siarra the Special Beam Cannon technique. He hated interruptions in the first place, but this was becoming simply ridiculous.  
He hovered down slowly from the tree branch, so that he was eye-level with Eli. "We both know the drill correct?" Piccolo asked.  
"Hai." Eli sighed.  
Piccolo disintigrated the ki rope and caught Eli by the back of her shirt collar as she fell.


	5. FatherDaughter Moment

Siarra laid quietly on the main dome of The Lookout. She decided to give some meditation a try, maybe then she could make sense out of this whole mess.  
"Why is Eli doing this?" She said quietly aloud.  
"She knows every time she runs, everyone gets mad at her; well everyone except Kira and Brutis." She mused silently. "She knows everyone catches her at one point. She knows that there's no way to escape everyone. So why does she still run?"  
Siarra felt her head begin to throb, all this intense musing gave her a headache. "Damn." She swore quietly. She sat up when she felt Piccolo's ki reapproaching the Lookout. She hopped off the dome just as Piccolo ascended over the Lookout edge and landed gracefully on the deck. Siarr approached him halfway through the deck.  
"Well? Did you find her?" She asked earnestly. Piccolo smirked, and as he began to walk by her he laid one of his massive hands on her head, the emerald contrasting greatly with the light brown of Siarrra's hair.. Siarra understood this as a great sign of affection.  
"Yeah, I caught her." Came Piccolo's gruff voice. "I don't know if it's getting easier, or if I'm just getting good at it."  
Siarra giggled slightly, realizing this was about as close as her father would get to making jokes or wisecracks of any sort.

Frost blasted over the Lookout edge, a look of panic and something undeterminable etched on his face.  
"You two gotta come quick!" He pleaded.  
"What's wrong?" Piccolo asked.  
"No time to explain! Just hone in on Brutis' ki and make it there and fast!" Frost commanded. And with that disappeared over the deck and out of sight. Both Siarra and Piccolo both ran as fast as they could and blasted over the Lookout deck.

As soon as Piccolo and Siarra began to become close to Brutis' ki, they were joined by their freinds and fellow warriors. This was truely the begining of the most dreadfull fight they'd ever have to witness.


	6. My name is

All the Z warriors landed in the immense concrete buildingbuilt in the field behind Brutis' and Kira's house. All of them were shocked to see no immediate threat or danger of any sort.  
Kira, Icer, and Frost stood against the wall opposite the Z senshi. Kira's arms were casually slung over her two eldest son's shoulders; a sick, sadistic smile donned on all their faces. Brutis stood, his back to the Z senshi, facing Eli.

Siarra felt goosebumps rise on her backbone, as well as did the other Z warriors.

Eli stood at the very center of the room, a small boy standing at her side; clutchingather jeans. Eli seemed to be trembling, as did the boy, although his trembling was much more evident.

"Hey Brutis! What's the idea!" Goku shouted, becoming angry. Goku was alll for fun and games, but calling for help when it wasn't neccesary was like shouting fire in a crowded building. It was dangerous and caused unneccesary panic.

Brutis snarled and turned to face the Z warriors. "Well, as you all are very aware of; this little bitch has run away numerous times in the past two years. Punishing her obviously hasn't been enough. I believe that now ifI punish her in front of all of you, she may get the idea through her thick skull that what she is doing is wrong!"  
This was certainly different. The Z warriors hadn't heard Brutis utter a single, solitary profane word, insult,or threatening remark at any of the times they had brought Eli back home.

Without missing a beat; Brutis turned and belted Eli hard across the face with his fist, sending her flying several feet. Her body creating a small trench as she continued to slide after her body hit the ground. At Brutis' strike, the small boy bolted. No one noticed where he ran to.  
"Hey!" Trunks cried. His feet left the ground and he launched himself in a full-on flying charge at Brutis. Eli hadn't done a damn thing to be hit like that.

Trunks didn't get very far. Brutis turned and flung some kind of energy rings at him and at the rest of the Z senshi. The energy hit everyone, forcing their bodies back against the wall. The rings were flung in such a way that their feet were pinned together, torsos against the wall, andtheir hands by their sides. They all initiated the reflexive struggle.  
"Brutis! Let us go! If this is a joke, it's not funny!" Gohan declared.

Brutis' body stiffened. "I've grown tired of that alias." He declared.  
No one comprehended.

Brutis threw his head back and began to scream. A black/purple aura swirled around him. His hair lengthened slightly and his muscles bulged, shredding the material around his arms.  
Siarra stole a glance atEli. Toher mingled surprise and horror, Eli looked terrified.

Brutis' power up ceased. He laughed as he lowered his head to a normal eye level. "My name is Brutilia." He stated coldly.


	7. A Grisly and Humiliating Battle

Everyone stared in shock; none of them had ever sensed a power like this before. On some level, it frightened them.

Brutilia surveyed the Z warriors. His hearing picked up their quickened heartbeats. He could smell the sweat forming on their foreheads. He could sense the fear growing within their hearts. He snickered to himself. "This is gonna be fun." He thought. He glanced sideways to see Elislowly regain her footing. It was his cue to fight.  
Faster then anything the Z senshi had ever seen; he launched himself at her. His fist came up to meet her stomach, doubling her over slightly. His other fist came up to meet her face and sent her standing somewhat straight. And as she tried to recover from this attack, he spun behind her and kicked her in the back hard enough to once again send her flyingon her faceback to the middle of the room.

Trunks looked over to Eli's mother and brothers. What he saw didn't just sicken him, it digusted him. They were happy, Kira was gigling and clapping her hands at Brutilia's overpowering attacks. Icer and Frost were both leaning against the wall near their mother, smug looks plastered on their faces. Unknown to the Z warriors; at that very moment they all shared one, single idea. The idea of bashing in the faces of every, single one of them.

Meanwhile, Brutilia made his way over to Eli. She struggled to pick her self to her knees.Brutilia pulled his right leg back and kicked her hard in the ribs, forcing her back onto her face. When she was still down, he kicked her again and again in the ribs.

"What the hell is the matter with you! Stop!" Various Z warriors screamed from their place on the wall. Brutilia halted his attack and turned. "Pick on someone your own size." Vegeta snarled meanacingly.  
Vegeta never had a real, special place in his heart for Eli. Often, he felt that he downright hated the little bitch. But she was a fellow warrior. And no one he considered a warrior should be treated like Eli was being treated now.

Brutilia's face came within inches of Vegeta's, his massive hand closing around his throat. "You want me to stop?" He asked. "Maybe you'd like to take her place?" With that he pulled his clenched fist back, ready to strike.

Eli crawled to her feet, making sure Brutilia saw and heard her get up. You just didn't hit anyone Eli cared about. Even if it was an arrogent saiayan prince she usually couldn't stand.

Brutilia released Vegeta's throat and turned around, holding the most sadistic look on his face. "Not had enough, huh?". Eli gulped. Brutilia leapt at her, once again commencing the slaughter.

It must've continued like this for maybe twenty or thirty minutes. Every time Brutilia hit Eli, he made sure he hit her hard enough to keep her standing for a few more blows. Only when she went down did Brutilia relent in the least. When she tried to regain her footing was he the cruelest. He would kick her to a point where she needed to be hauled back to her feet. This was also the time when Brutilia would make belittling comments to her. No blow to low. Everything from being illegitement, to just calling her a worthless piece of trash.

The final blow was soon to come.


	8. The Battle Ends

Brutilia once again kicked Eli again in the side, drawing a low moan from the young teenager. Seeing how most of her ribs were broken, it was especially painful. She just didn't have the energy to resist anymore.

Brutilia bent down and snatched a handfull of Eli's blood-stained hair. He pulled enough to jerk her head up to face her friends. Everyone on the wall could see the fresh and dried blood now adorning her face.

Siarra wanted to cry. She felt that if she hadn't spent so much time trying to ananlyze one pieceof information, maybe she would've seen the other red flags. Her thoughts were interrupted by Brutilia's voice.

"Isn't it ironic," He sneered. "That you must die as you lived. As a** fucking** **piece** **of** **trash**!"  
He annunciated the last four words, making sure they sunk in deep. He snickered at his own little joke.

Trunks couldn't hold it anymore. "You sadistic bastard! Leave her alone! What did she ever do to you!" He screamed.  
Brutilia dropped Eli and flew over toward Trunks, his eyes blazing. He was mere inches from his face when he stopped.  
"You wanna know what she did?" Brutiliaasked in a barely audible whisper. The tonemadeTrunksthink he was gonna piss himself."She was born."  
With that he reared his hand back and began gathering large amounts of ki within his palm. That's when they all heard it.

"Leave him alone". That's it. Clear as a bell. It was the only thing close to a word Eli had said during the whole beating.

Brutilia allowed the ki had been gathering to dissapate. He turned toward Eli, and he was raging.  
Icer and Frost began to chant happily from the other wall; "She broke a rule! She broke a rule!"

With one quick movement Brutilia swept down and snatched Eli off the ground by the shirt she wore. "What did you say?" Brutilia asked in that low, freakishly scary voice that made you wanna scream in fear. Brutilia repeated his question, this time louder and making sure to shake her slightly.

Eli gulped. "I...I said...to...leave trunks alone."

Brutilia maintained his grip on Eli while slugging her several more times with his other fist. Her head was wrenched from side to side so violently, it seemed her neck would snap. Brutilia let her drop once again. She rolled slightly to one side, trying to alieviate some of the pain coursing through her system.

"You think that just because your little buddies are here you can speak to me! Huh! Do you!" Brutilia raged on and on. Eli's ears began to ring. "Do you honestly believe that anyone will help you! If you think so, try it!" He challanged.

All time seemed to freeze, all things seemed eternally quiet as Eli drew a quick intake of breath.

"Help me! He's going to kill me! Please! Someone just help me!" She pleaded.

At these words the Z senshi all pulled feverishly against their ki bonds. They had to help her. Eli never cried for help before, if she was scared enough to scream for it now; then it was serious. Piccolo managed to break his hands free.

Brutilia laughed out loud at this display of friendship. He swooped down and snatched Eli up by her hair again, no one saw him pull out Eli's prized switchblade and flick it open..  
His face was a mask of pure evil.  
"Don't you get it bitch? No one will help you! Now shut the fuck up and get what's coming to you!" He screamed.

He brought the knife down and stabbed Eli's throat just under her jawline, quickly bringing it across until Eli's throat was slit from ear to ear.


	9. Aftermath

Siarra barely managed to hold back a scream, leaving a small squeak in her throat. She wished more than anything that what she had just seen was some sick nightmare; something she'd forget in a few hours after waking up.

The rest of the Z senshi's mouths hung open in a mixture of horror and shock.

Brutiliabegan to laugh, long hidieous peels of laughter.  
He let Eli drop to the ground lifelessly. Her body made a sickening 'thud' that couldn't be explained with all the words in all the languages known to her friends.  
Still laughing, although not quite as intensely, Brutilia knudged Eli with the toe of his shoes. He flicked the knife away and put it in his pocket.

"Come on. We have to go now." Brutilia said to Kira, Icer, and Frost. He said it so calmly, like nothing had just happened. Like he hadn't just beaten a fifteen-year-old to within an inch of her life. Like he hadn't just slit her throat. Like she wasn't laying at his feet, dying.  
All four of them calmly flew away.

Trunks was the first to break his ki bonds. He ran to Eli, falling at her side when he reached her. He gingerlyturned her over, and felt tears fill his eyes.  
**"Oh kami! Oh sweet good Kami!"** Trunks thought. **"I can see her whole fucking throat! I'm looking at her fucking windpipe! Oh Kami!"**

One by one the Z warriors were breaking their bonds as well.

Trunks whipped the shirt off his back and wrapped it around her throat, in an effort to stop the bleeding. Within seconds it was drenched in her violet blood. Precious, life-giving, violet gold was slowly soaking into a T-shirt and forming a pool on the floor.

Siarra and Goten were the next ones at Eli's unconcious form. Siarra took one look at Eli's bruised, broken, and bleeding form and she felt the scream building again.She clenched one hand over her mouth, and her eyes widened to where they were as big as plates. Goten blanched, his mouth hung slightly open, and he fell to his knees next to Trunks. He didn't even notice he hadkneeled in the puddle of blood.

Goku was the next to rush over next, nearly throwing Trunks and Goten to the side so that he could reach Eli. In one smooth motion he had Eli cradled gently in his arms. With two fingers two his forehead he instant transmitted himself to The Lookout.

Goku reached The Lookout in record time, even for instant transmission. Eli was losing massive amounts of blood and would soon go into shock if something was not done quickly. Besides, the quicker this was taken care of, the faster he and his friends could hunt down Brutilia.  
**"Dende! Dende I need you fast! Hurry!"**Goku yelled feverishly. Dende slowly approached Goku, looking remorseful.  
"I can't help her." Dende said hopelessly.  
"What!" Goku nearly screamed. "Why the hell not!"  
"Over the past two years, someone from her family brought her to me in secret. Shealways had some kind ofinjury.The overuse of my powers on her made herimmune tothem." Dende explained.  
Goku felt his eyes begin to bulge out of his head; "She had to be healed that many times?" He nearly screamed.  
"I just thought she'd been training hard!" Dende exclaimed, his face contorting in regret and guilt.  
It was at this point that Goku again became aware of the being in his arms. She coughed,twitched, and shuddered, blood flowing out of her mouth. He thought of another method. "This isn't your fault Dende." were his words before he instant transmitted to the place just below The Lookout

"Goku, she's immune to senzu." Korin said sorrowfully. He opened his mouth to explain more, but Goku didn't stick around to listen. He had a good idea what had happened after Dende's powers no longer worked. One last chance.

Bulma gasped. Not only had Goku suddenly appeared out of nowhere mere inches from her face, but he was also carrying a bleeding mess.  
"You have to help her. You're her last chance." Goku said gravely.  
Bulma reached over and punched the button labeled ''EMERGENCY'. Within seconds she had a strecher, a team of medical robots, and a surgens kit wheeling by her.Goku gently set Eli down on the gurney, noting that she was unconscious. Bulma and her team took off.  
For the rest of the time Goku sat alone in that waiting room, he stared at his shirt. He stared at the drying violet splotches on his bright orange gi.

As Bulma and her medical team rolled into her emergency room, she began to assess Eli's wounds.She carefully reached around and tugged the shir, which was now heavy and soaking with blood,away from her neck. She gasped and reeled back. Eli's throat had been slit deep enough to where it was possible to see the wind pipe, and even the windpipe had been cut open. Swallowing her courage and tears, she began to work on helping her to breathe again.


	10. Chill

Bulma put the final stiches in Eli's body. She stood back and looked at the poor girl lying in her hospital bed. Bulma closed her eyes, shook her head and began writing in her report. How Eli was alive she didn't know, all she knew was that Eli had to be a very strong person to go through what she must've gone through.  
Eli's head wrenched to the side, tensing some of the tubes she was connected too. Bulma got up and tried to soothe her by talking to her, she didn't want to have to give her drugs until absolutely neccesary.  
"Eli...Eli...calm down...it's all right." She repeated over and over.  
Eli's lips parted slightly and she began to talk in her sleep.  
"Chill...don't trust him...plan" Eli hoarsely whispered in her sleep. She wasn't making any sense.  
Bulma finally gave in and pressed the morphine button.

Bulma stood out in the waiting room with the Z warriors, reading out her report. By now, most of the Z warriors heads were turned in shame, anger, disgust, or a combonation of all three.  
"I can't belive how underweight she is; it's a miracle her kidneys haven't shut down yet." Bulma said, struggling to keep her voice stoic.  
"How underweight is she?" Trunks asked, knowing full well that he wouldn't like the answer.  
"Let's put it this way, if the normal weight range for Eli's age is 110-120 pounds, Eli is 52 pounds."  
Even Vegeta and Piccolo flinched at this. "Why hadn't any of us noticed these things?" They all asked themselves.  
Bulma flipped through her notes some more, wanting more information that would encourage these warriors in front of her. After several seconds of searching she finally found something to say that would end the silence in the room. "Does the name 'Chill' mean anything to anyone?" Bulma asked.  
The warriors looked at each other in confusion. Siarra raised her head from it's bowed position.  
"That's her younger brother." she said solemly. "I saw him before," she faltered, "Before the first blow was thrown today, but after that I lost track of him."  
"We'll go look for him." Goku volenteered. He, Vegeta, and Gohan got up and left for the imfamous site.

All three landed in the building within minutes of leaving Capsule Corp.. They spread out and began to look silently for Chill, both visually and by searching for his ki signal. Within fifteen minutes Gohan had found the boy sitting in a cornor, which was partially covered by a huge slab of concrete.

He was a small boy, probably no more than five years old.With lighter skin, torn clothes, peircing black eyes, and black locks which was relativly relaxed, but spiked more towards the front. His eyes especially conveyed hate, distrust, fear, and anger.

"Hey there, little guy." Gohan said encouragingly, placing his hand on the boys shoulder. His hand was quickly batted away.  
"Kryos tio pugohs!" Chill shouted threateningly, his glare becoming more intense and hate filled by the second.  
Goku and Vegeta landed had landed near the shockedGohan at this point. Gohan turned and shared his expression of question with his father, neither of them had ever heard a language like this before in their whole lives.  
"Out of my way, whelp!" Vegeta commanded, throwing Gohan aside with a simple gesture.  
"Don't beat him to make him come with us!" Gohan commanded with a note of worry in his voice.  
"I'm not going to hit him you idiot!" Vegeta saidangrily. "The kid's speaking saiyan!"  
Kneeling down, he began to speak the same gibberish-sounding language as the young child.  
"Gresthe youric symota?" Vegeta asked.  
"bosder vex o kilap symota." Chill responded.  
"Xedas ikayewi tyour." Vegeta said, and with a wave of his hand the child crawled out of his little hideout.  
"That was amazing Vegeta! What'd you say to him!" Goku exclaimed as Vegeta hoisted the small child in his arms.  
"I simply asked if he wanted to be taken to his sister. He said yes, and I said we'd take him to her." Vegeta added with a smirk of confidence. All three blasted off towards Capsule Corp.

Before taking Chill directly to Eli, the three men decided to ask him a few questions; in hope they could understand a little more about they had witnessed mere hours ago. Thankfully the men had discovered the child understood english, which made their job a whole lot easier.  
"Chill, what happened between your daddy and your sister?" Goku asked sweetly.  
"Houric shiui." The child stated furiously. Gohan and Goku looked at Vegeta in question.  
"He said 'Go fuck yourself.'" Vegeta said calmly.  
All three of them tried to talk to Chill, but he was angry and stubborn. The most they were getting were threats and profanity, nothing usefull. It continued for an hour like this.  
"I give up!" Gohan exclaimed in exassperation. He shoved himself away from the table and began to pace. Out of his gi shirt he produced a small candy bar. Gohan knew they weren't especially good for him, but he also knew they were filling and staved off hunger when nothing good was available. He ripped off the paper and uncrinkled the foil surrounding the milk chocolate.  
Chill's eyes snapped on the candy. As Gohan paced and undid the wrapper, Chill's eyes followed the sweet morsel in his hands. He could taste his saliva pooling in his mouth. He could smell the sugary-sweetness mere feet from where he was. He mentally counted the calories like Eli had taught him. 250, that could keep him going for the day.  
Vegeta glanced down to see the child focusing on the candy in Gohan's hands.  
"Kakkorot!" Vegeta whispered hoarsely, nodding at Chill; trying to convey his point without disturbing the child. One look at Chill and Goku understood.  
"Gohan, give me the candy." Goku said plainly. Gohan obliged, having had his attention turned to Chill, he was no longer hungry.  
"Chill," Goku began,"I'll give you this whole candy bar if you talk to us about your dad."  
Chill began to cry. Soundless streams of salt water trickled down his cheeks.  
"Alright!" Chill screamed, surprising everyone. They hadn't thought he knew how to speak english. "I'll tell you what you wanna know, just please let me have that candy!"


	11. Friends speak

Eli awoke groggily. She rolled her head to the side and moaned softly. For a moment, she forgot where she was and how she got there, and then it all came back. She gingerly ran her hands along her throat, and felt the injury. She felt the stitches placed in her throat, which didn't seem to alieviate anything. In fact, it felt like the stitches were ripping her already torn throat in two different directions. "That's gonna leave a mark." she said to herself. That's when her eyes caught the tube in her arm. She followed the tube up with her eyes until she saw the package she was intravenously connected to. "Morphine." She said, with just a hint of exasperation. This would just hinder her escape. With the morphine in her system she wouldn't be able to function at her best.  
She reached over and ripped the needle out violently. Blood began to flow freely out of the little needle prick in her inner elbow. "Fuck." she cursed. She reached over and grabbed the medical tape off the shelf. Tearing off a piece, she was able to create a temporary bandage to her inner elbow, she figured it would clot soon anyway. She continued from there to remove the rest of the tubes she was hooked up too.  
Eli got up shakily from the hospital bed, her legs feeling as if they were going to go out on her at any second. She was also going short on breath, and her vison kept on clouding over with dizziness.  
"Come on Eli! Get it together. You wanna be around when the pity party starts?" Her mind asked condemingly. Eli shook her head 'no'.  
She shakily made her way over to the window, and with no effort at all, forced it open. Eli gazed out warily, searching for any sign of danger with her straining eyes. She had a good idea that if she turned on her internal ki radar, she'd probably faint. No danger within sight range. She reached out and snagged a close tree branch and hauled herself onto the branch. It seemed to take forever, but she managed to get most of the way down from the tree. Noting that the branches stopped about six feet from the ground, she decided to risk the jump. She landed with a muffled thump on the ground. She stood up unsteadily and looked around again. Still no danger in sight.  
"Good. Maybe things will go my way for once tonight." and with that she began to walk away.  
"Where do you think you're going?" A low voice asked.  
Eli froze, but her mind raced; trying to place a face and a name with the voice. She turned her head just enough to see out of the cornor of her eye who it was.  
Piccolo.  
"It's the lesser of two evils." her mind reasoned.  
"How'd you get this job?" Eli asked dryly, turning her head back to where Piccolo could only see the back of her head.  
"Drew the short straw." He said in his typical dry humor.  
Eli sighed. "Piccolo, if you turn around right now, we'll both say we never saw each other."This wasn't a question.  
Piccolo was shocked, did he detect a tone of shame in her voice? "Goku, Gohan, and Vegeta got Chill to give us some details about what happened. I want to hear it from you now."  
"He knows! Fuck! Shit! Dammit! He fuckin knows!" Her mind screamed at her. "This is my problem and I'll deal with it." She stated with vehmnence in her voice. Eli began to walk away.  
Piccolo began to lose his patience. "Stop." He commanded.  
Eli kept on walking, she didn't have to listen to Piccolo.  
"Eli, Stop!" Piccolo shouted, slightly louder.  
Eli kept on walking.  
"Elisha! Stop right there!" He shouted.  
Eli was shocked into stopping. But, she wasn't sure what shocked her more. The sound of her ice-jin name, or the fear Piccolo's tone inspired in her.  
"Turn around." Piccolo commanded.  
Eli grit her teeth and turned around, but she refused to look him in the eye.  
Piccolo noticed this, and it disturbed him. For as long as he'd known Eli, she had never been the timid damsel in distress. And now here she was, under the restless night sky, refusing to look one of her friends in the eye. Piccolo began to walk toward her. As he approached, Eli's eyes grew more and more toward the ground.  
Eli couldn't stand this. Not only had she been publiclly humiliated, but now Piccolo had to interrogate her on the matter.She saw the very tips of Piccolo's shoes come into her field of vison. Kami, he was close.  
"So what happened?" Piccolo asked.  
Eli didn't answer.  
Piccolo held her chin in his hand, gently bringing her to face up to meet his.  
She clamped her eyes shut.  
"Look at me." He commanded.  
Eli reluctantly opened one eye, and then the other. She found herself staring into those cold onyx eyes.  
"What happened?" He asked again.  
Eli jerked her chin roughly from his hand, causing pain from her shredded throat, but she wouldn't let him see that. "Leave me alone." she said, in a tone that totally lacked her old vitality.  
Piccolo closed his eyes and sighed. He really didn't want this to turn into a full-on brawl, especially when it didn't look like Eli could walk straight much less fight.  
"He'll kill you too." Eli said emotionlessly.  
Piccolo felt his eyes widen.  
"Do you think I kept the secret because I like being hit?" She asked somewhat sarcastically. "Killing people because of my big mouth is no sweat for...him." She said.  
"Eli..." Piccolo began, placing his hand on her shoulder.  
Eli jerked her shoulder away from Piccolo's hand.  
Piccolo folded his arms, he understood not wanting to be touched. "You can tell me about what happened, or I can read your mind. Your call." he said.  
Eli grit her teeth again. She couldn't tell him what happened, not without losing her composure. Hell, she was having a hard time keeping it together now.  
"You know I won't talk." She stated plainly.  
Piccolo unfolded his arms, and placed one hand on Eli's forehead. He could feel the cold sweat that had collected there, and he would have bet that her neck was probably just as cold.  
Eli felt his hand press to her forehead, his warm, comforting hand. She didn't know why this calmed her so much; it just did.  
Piccolo strectched out his mind into hers. Seeing the inside of his eyelids as if they were the screens in a theater, watching Eli's memories like a series of movies.  
He wasn't ever prepared for what he saw.


	12. The Mind's Eye

Piccolo opened his eyes to reveal where he was. He found himself in Brutilia's and Kira's house, he also noticed that he, himself, was transparent and no one in the house could see him. He heard a knock at the door, he held his breath. Suddenly he didn't know if he really wanted to see this.

Kira got off Brutilia's lap and walked towards the door, re-doing her hair to make herself look presentable. She opened the door to see an angryGoku clutching Eli at the shoulder. With one motion Kira had Eli in her arms and was overly-praising Goku for bringing her 'baby' back.

"Fuckin' bitch." Piccolo muttered under his breath.  
Brutilia re-disguised himself to look like Brutis, walked up behind Kira and likewise began to lavish praise upon Goku for finding Eli. That's when Piccolo noticed Eli's fists. They were clenching and un-clenching rhythmatically. Eli was phsycing herself up for something.  
"Here it comes." Piccolo thought.  
Goku left and Kira shut the door, still speaking to Eli as if she were the lost lamb. Frost ran over to the window, and began gazing in a way a lookout would.  
"Is he gone?" Brutilia/Brutis asked coldly.  
Frost turned to meet Brutilia/Brutis' gaze, and with an evil look to his face, nodded 'yes'.

Brutilia dropped the disguise and raised his fist. He made contact with Eli's face and sent her flying. Kira ran and snatched Eli up, as Icer and Frost both dove and held her legs. Brutilia advanced and proceeded to beat Eli horribly. Punches to the face, stomach, kicks to the stomach, sides, head, and legs rained down. Piccolo looked to his right to see Chill walk aimlessly in and sit down on the chair. The child began to clap his hands in glee at the violence he was witnessing. It was like this was some sort of cheap spectator sport.  
Suddenly Brutilia stopped the blows.  
"I'll be right back," he snarled. And he turned out of the kitchen area and began to walk through the living room and up the creaky stairs.  
Eli, meanwhile, began to struggle; trying to throw her captors off. Allthree of them held tightly.  
Brutilia returned, holding a quart-sized carton with him. He reached out and seized Eli's head and began to force her head backwards. He squeezed her jaw in such a way it was forced open, and he poured the contents of the quart down her throat.  
Within seconds Piccolo could tell what was in the carton. The smell of ammonia, drain cleaner, and some formof lysol filled his nostrols.  
Eli's struggles ceased and she dropped limply to the floor, shuddering in convulsions.  
Icer and Frost began to high-five one another, while Brutilia scooped Kira up in his arms.  
"Go play outside Icer and Frost. Take your little brother with you." Brutilia commanded. Kira giggled happily as he carried her through the kitchen, through the living room, up the creaky stairs, and from what Piccolo could hear; into the bed.

Everything began to move in fast-foward. Piccolo could see how things had progressed the rest of the night. This continued until somewhere near eight am.  
Eli groaned and lifted herself uneasily onto her hands and knees. Her eyes widened and she just barely managed to get the wastebasket under her mouth as she vomited the contents of last nights show.  
Kira walked into the kitchen and carelessly poured herself a cup of coffee.  
"Oh, you're up." She said with utter disregard in her voice.  
Piccolo began to fume. Kira had helped this! She had actually given to such little thought to the life in her care as too allow this viciousness to continue.  
Kira picked up a muffin and began to chew on it lazily. "Brutis wants you to clean the bathroom today." she said in the same tone of utter indifference. Eli stood up shakily and began to make her way to the stair case.  
"Oh yeah." Kira said, as if remembering some important detail. "He said if you don't finish in twenty minutes, you won't recieve any food today." Eli continued to walk, as Kira laughed.

Everything moved in fast foward again, until Piccolo saw Eli on her hands and knees; scrubbing the bathroom floor with a bristled brush.  
Brutis walked towards the bathroom and leaned against the door frame, snacking lazily on an apple.  
"How's it goin'?" He asked casually. Eli didn't answer.  
"Go ahead. You have permission to speak." Brutis said coercingly. Eli scrubbed harder at the floor. Brutis began to circle her.  
"Y'know, you're a lot prettier than your mother. Much more sexy." He purred. Piccolo could tell she was doing all she could to ignore what he was saying.  
"You just say 'yes' and I'll end all this." Brutis said.  
Piccolo suddenly realised what he was witnessing. Brutis was offering freedom from all the abuse, all the torment, for sex. Obviously fucking Eli's mother must've gotten old. Piccolo felt disgusted, like he suddenly had to vomit himself.  
"Obviously, it would be a lot happier for you," Brutis continued. "But, there are other things I could do to you." He said with a sneer.  
"There isn't a whole shit load you could do to bring me lower." Eli said in a quiet voice.  
Piccolo took one look at Brutis' face, and he knew something bad was about to happen.  
In one move, Brutis reached down and ripped the shirt off Eli's torso. Thank Kami she was wearing a bra underneath. Brutis hauled Eli to her feet and pinned her by the arms against the wall.  
"Listen here, you little bitch. If your mother gets sick or dies, I don't care if you consent or not; you're the new whore around here. And trust me, I'm not gentle the first night. If you get yourself pregnant, so help me kami I will give you the most painful home abortion I can. I will make every moment of your pathetic existance living hell. You will beg for death! And don't think you can run to your little buddies either. Who are they gonna believe? Eli, a runaway and probably knocked up? Or the poor doting, grieving step-father who just wants to be loved?"  
Eli's head twisted to the side and she clenched her eyes shut. Piccolo wanted to kill him at that moment. He wanted to tear open his torso and remove every single organ while he was still alive. This was sick.  
As soon as it began, it ended. Brutis hadn't gone that far yet, but he'd done enough to fuck with Eli's head.  
She kneeled on the ground, breathing hard and unevenly. Near hysterics, she reached over and picked up the bristle brush she'd been using to clean the floor. Eli began to mercilessly scrub at her wrists where Brutis' hands had been. She scrubbed until blood stained the bristles.

Fast-foward again. It kept going until it was sometime during the night. Piccolo didn't know what shocked him more; the way Eli was treated physically by everyone in the house, or how every one of them, even little Chill, went out of their way to mess with her emotionally and mentally.  
Brutilia concluded his beating and pitched Eli down thebasement stairs. Eli fell down the stairs hard, made contact with the concrete wall, andlay still on her back. She sighed and moaned at the same time, wincing in pain.  
Piccolo growled.  
Suddenly, the basement door eased open and Icer cautiously walked down. He walked slowly down the stairs until he stood directly above Eli. He knelt down and placed something in her hand. It was her own gun; the one with the special, ki-enhanced bullets.  
"Do yourself, and everyone else, a favor." Icer said coldly. He turned and began to ascend the stairs once again.  
Piccolo's eyes focused on Eli. Her hand gripped the shiny gun in her hand. Her whole hand began to shake, it wasn't long before she was shaking all over. In one quick motion she rammed the gun to her temple and pulled the trigger.  
Click.  
Click.  
Click.  
Nothing was happening. In confusion Eli sat up and pulled the chamber out. It was empty. Brutilia had done this on purpose. The bastard was toying with her.  
Eli sat up, her face a mask of despair. She pitched the gun across the dank room and put her face in her hands. She looked somewhere near the realm of hysterics. She looked up and saw her reflection. A large shard of a mirror lay against the wall oppositefrom where she was sitting. She stood up and slowly approached the reflective glass. Her face turned into a portrayt of rage.Eli viciously slammed her fist into the glass,severly crackingit. Glass imbedded into Eli's clenched fist, but she didn'tseem to care. Finally all the glass shattered into pieces on the ground, but she continued to pound the wall. When the other fist began to become unbearable, she switched fists. She punched the wall until she couldn't anymore. Both her hands were bloody. She placed both of them on the wall, and slowly sank to her knees. Her hands leaving horrible, bloody, disfigured prints on the wall.

When she did finally move again, she moved toward a small cot in the cornor of the room. Before climbing in, she checked the pile of rags underneath. Hidden under the rags was a heavy, metal rod. She placed one rag over it and laidface down in her cot, allowing one hand to dangle near the rag.  
It wasn't long before Piccolo found the reason for the rod. It must've been a good half-hour later when Brutilia silently made his way down the basement stairs. He walked over toward Eli's half-sleeping form. Using one hand, he lifted the back of Eli's shirt, slowly rubbing her back. His hand moved higher upon every stroke. Brutilia smiled as Eli wasn't reacting, at least not in his sight. Piccolo watched as Eli slowly lifted the rag and clutched the metal rod. Her hand clenched around it, and in the blink of an eye, she was up and off the cot, Brutilia was on the ground. Eli rained blows of her own down on Brutilia's head and body.  
Suddenly, Brutilia grabbed the rod. Snatching it out of her hands; he swung it back and hit her in the knees. Eli fell with a grimace on her face. Brutilia didn't stop; he lifted her by the legs and swung her around the room, her head making contact several times with the concrete wall. To end the fight, Brutilia threw her in such a way, that her midsection collided with the support beam in the middle of the basement. The force bent her together, like she had been folded. Blood was everywhere.  
Brutilia looked indifferently at the mess, and began to climb the stairs again.  
"Kira, hand me those senzu things. Your stupid kid is bleeding everywhere again!" He shouted from the door frame.  
He trotted down the stairs with a mini-sack of senzu in his hand. He haphazardly sat next to Eli and began to feed her senzu. One didn't do anything. Two didn't do anything. Three didn't do anything. It took almost seven senzu before any affect was taking place. No wonder she had become immune to them, in one year she had already made a huge tolerance for them.

Fast foward once more. This time days passed before time slowed to it's normal pace once again.  
Eli lay face down in her cot again. She had a black eye and a cut lip that the senzu hadn't helped. The immunity was taking it's effect now. Her cot drifted lazily back and forth as Eli's range of motion allowed. The door to the basement suddenly opened with such force Piccolo was sure it would crash off it's hinges. Brutilia, angery and cursing, threw something down the basement stairs.  
Eli looked over, it was Chill. Brutilia had just chucked Chill down the basement stairs like a piece of trash.  
She cautiouslygot off the cot and approached the body of her youngest half-brother.  
"Chill?" She asked quietly. He didn't respond.  
That's when Piccolo saw Eli drop to her knees beside him, muttering a string of panicked curses. Piccolo then noticed the giant, hand-shaped bruises around Chills neck and his blue lips.  
Eli began to quickly administer air to her brothers lungs, it wasn't long before he came around.  
He looked up at Eli with a combonation of fear and sadness plastered to his face.  
"What happend?" Eli asked simply.  
Chill burst into tears. "Daddy...training...hands...my neck..." he choked out. He flung forward and sobbed into Eli's torn shirt. Eli began to reluctantly stroke his hair in an attemptto calm him.  
"Daddy doesn't love me anymore!" Chill shouted. "He says I gotta stay with you now! He says I get the cocktail tonight!" He began to go into a crying fit again.  
Eli got a faraway look to her eyes.  
"He ain't gonna hurt you, Chill." she said calmly.  
Chill looked up at her in confusion.  
"He won't hurt you as long as he's mad at me." Eli said calmly.  
"Your gonna make him mad at you?" Chill asked, still in confusion.  
"I'll do something to piss him off, I probably would've ended up getting beaten tonight anyway. Don't worry, if he is still intent on giving you the cocktail; I'll run away. That way he'll be so pissed he'll focus all his attention on kicking my ass." Elisaid reassuringly.  
Chill smiled andclutchedtightly to Eli.  
"Thank you."He whispered.

Piccolo left the mind, he didn't want to see more.


	13. Reaction

Neither had realised it had begun to rain.

Piccolo's eyes remained closed for several minutes after he pulled out of Eli's mind. In all his years as a warrior he had seen some gruesome things, hell he'd been responsible for at least half of them. But, He'd never tortured anyone like this, when he had killed it had been a relatively quick death.

He opened his eyes andstared athis handon Eli's head. She still wasn't looking at him. Her head was down and her eyes were shut.Piccolo slowly slid his hand down Eli's face until his large, green hand held her chin in his hand. Gently he lifted Eli's head until he made eye contact, her eyes looked so different.  
All the previous times he'd seen those eyes they'd been filled with a variety of things. Hate,pride, contempt, intelligence, and even a certain quality totally unique to her. One that had no name; one that dared people to fight her.  
Now, now they held adullness. Like she'd shut down part of herself to keep from dying altogether. They alsoheld a surpressed fear; a fearof being betrayed,a fear of being tortured, a fear of being hurt again.

Piccolo's thumb gently swept over her cheek, wiping the moisture from her light skin. He wished more than anything at that moment he'd paid more attention to her when she'd moved in with Kira. He removed his hand and returned it to it's usual place at his side. He walked passed her.

Eli's stomach turned over in self-revulsion.  
"I still couldn't believe you didn't fight back!" A voiceshouted.  
Eli knew the voice. She'd known it all her life, and over the past two years she'd becomequite familiar with the owner. She called it herDark Self. Anti-Eli. Often she'd picturedTheDarkSelf, in it's long, hooded, blackcape leaning against the nearest tree or wall. It usually spewed insults and hate at Eli.  
"Oh, shut up!" Eli said mentally.  
"You think **I'm** disgusted?" Dark Self went on, ignoring her command to quiet down.  
"Why do you think Piccolo was silent when he came back from your mind, huh?You think he feels sorry for you? Yeah right! I can see it all over his green mug. He's sickened!" DarkSelf continued, laughing.  
"I told you to shut the fuck up!" Eli commanded mentally.  
Dark Self continued to laugh, choking out insults along the way.  
Eli's face tightened to a grimace at the ground, her fists clenched desperately. She had totally missed that Piccolo had said something to her. She was brought back to reality when Piccolo's raised voicepenetrated Dark Self's laughter. She cautiously looked out of the cornorof her eye at him.

He was a few feet off the ground, his arms crossed over his chest. "Come on." He commanded gruffly. Eli could tell he was trying tokeepirritation out of hisvoice.  
She hovered to his level in the air, and without another word between the two, they took off.

Piccolo didn't want to bring Eli straight to The Lookout, he wanted to help her in private right now. It wasn't that he thought that Siarra would be upset by this kind of thing; it was his fear of becoming upset.A few measly hours ago he'd seen a man, who'd sworn he'd taken Eli under his wing as her father, beat her to within an inch of death. Piccolo was more afraid that he'd see Siarra as Eli.  
All through his viewing of Eli's mind, his mind had been replacing Eli's image with Siarra's. That's what made him ill, he'd actually seen himself torturing Siarra the way Brutilia had tortured Eli.  
Even when he had heard Siarra surpress her scream when Brutilia had slit Eli's throat, his mind asked him 'Would she make that sound if you slit her throat?'.At that specific moment he'd wanted to bash in his ownbrain because it had conjured such a dispicable thought.

Piccolo came out of his thoughts abruptly when he noticed Eli's ki. It was so weak, yet it pulsated with effort to keep her in the air.  
Piccolo stopedand faced Eli. It didn't take a whole lot to stop Eli's flight. Piccolo had no idea she was this spent; sweat and rainglazed her face, she was trying desperately to conceal her panting, and Piccolo could clearly hear her heartbeat.

The rain continued to pour.

"Do you want me to carry you?" Piccolo asked coolly.  
Eli looked up in a mixture of shock and insult.  
"No." She replied calmly, but angrily.  
Piccolo sighed inwardly. He should've known Eli's pride wouldn't allow such help. He decided to rephrase the question.  
"Do you need me to carry you?" He asked.  
Eli took a deep breath. "I will shortly." She sighed, and passed out.  
Piccolo reached and just barely caught her emaciated body in his arms. From the way he carried her he could feel every possible bone jut forth from the skin, in a gruesome display of Brutilia's power.

The rain continued to pour just as hard and as fiercely.

Piccolo landed in his old cave entranceafter an hour of flight. Eli was still unconcious, but Piccolo decided not to betoo concerned since he couldhear her heartbeat and breathing. He would worry when hecouldn't hear one or both of those.  
He set herdown gently in the cave and crossed the middle tosit on the opposite side. It had been a particularly humid and muggy day, so a fire wasn't necessary in the still warm cave.  
Piccolo focused his hearing towards Eli's form, hoping not dectect any distress. He soon found he wouldn't get his wish. He began to hear her mutter saiyan in her sleep.  
He had no idea what she was saying, but she sounded like she was in anguish. Piccolo moved from his spot across the cave from her, to next to her. Swallowing his pride, he began to speak to her.  
"Eli, Brutilia's not here." He said soothingly, placing his hand on hers. "It's over, you lived. You won."

Eli's heart rate began to decrease until it reached normal again. Her breathing evened out.But Piccolo's rage didn't end. It enraged him to no end to see someone so strong and in-control, being reduced to the point where sleep offered no relief. He swore that if he and Brutilia, or any member of Eli's so-called 'family', met up; then he was going to tear them apart for this. No one, no matter how bad they acted at some points, deserved this.  
"You alwayrs said you'd have our backs in a fight," he thouhght "Now I've got yours. Rest easy, kid."

The rain ceased.


	14. Feelings

Eli lay in a sub-conscious state, the one just before awakening. She took a full breath of air, and sighed slowly. She didn't want to get up. Not to the beatings, not to the hate, not to this life.

Then, it all came crashing back. Her breath caught in her aching throat as she vividly recalled the details of what had happened not twenty four hours ago. Then, in a sudden rush of panic, she realized she wasn't alone.

Piccolo cracked one eye open and began to watch Eli as she slept. Somehow during the night, she'd moved closer to him. Now her head rested comfortably against his right leg.Her eyes had been darting around under her eyelids for hours, they'd only just recently stopped. He watched as he thought she was about to come too.Piccolo watched as Eli went from being somewhat relaxed, to her entire body tensing in a panic.

Eli felt an irrepressible tremor glide smoothly down her spine, sending mini shivers into every fiber of her being.

Piccolo sighed inwardly. "I know you're awake." He said simply.  
Eli slowly opened one eye too see who was really talking to her. She moved her head to where the cave wall was the only thing in her line of vision. A moan caught in her throat as some of yesterday's pain struck her in several places.

Neither of them really thought about how long it was before Eli sat up. Nor did either of them really judge the amount of time it took for one of them to speak.  
Piccolo was the first to speak."Why you?" he asked.  
Eli's jaw clenched, her nose crinkling, and her mouth forming a scowl. "I deserved it." She stated sorrowfully and matter-of-factually. Piccolo shook his head slightly, like he was about to tell her how wrong she was. Eli snapped herself towards him.  
"**YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND**!" She yelled. Her eyes conveyed a sadness and hurt that Piccolo had rarely seen. "I've done...awful...horrible things, I deserved to be punished for them!"  
"How would Brutilia know what in the hell you've done in your life?" Piccolo asked.  
"Kira watched...from hell..." Eli began, lowering her head in shame. "She saw...all those things I've ever done..." Piccolo gripped her shoulders, attempting to pick her up to face him; but she held herself firm. "You could not've done anything that bad to warrant this kind of abuse." Piccolo stated quietly.

Silence. For the next few minutes Eli knelt on the ground on all fours, Piccolo's hands placed firmly on her shoulders.

"I didn't mean to kill that kid." Eli said quietly  
"What?" Piccolo asked, slightly shocked she would reveal this to him.

"Kokori told me this guy was going to kick us out of our apartment...I would believe anything he said, and I did anything he asked of me. Kokori told me I had to kill him, or we'd be out on the street. I...I went over to his apartment and just let loose. I strangled him with my bare hands. I didn't realize anyone else was there until one of his...roommates...or something tried to pull me off him. I went into this daze, I didn't know what I was doing, until I was done with it all. Somewhere...in the fight, this little brat...he only looked, like eight years old, had come up behind me. I...I...I completely ripped him apart. His guts were all over the floor. His blood...was...was all over me!"

Eli's hands clenched into white-knuckled fists on the ground. Her breath hitched hysterically.  
Piccolo's hand slowly reached out, his hand coming to rest on her back. "Eli..."

"I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO IT!" She yelled, jumping up to meet eye-to-eye with Piccolo, her hands gripping his shoulder pads. "He just snuck up on me! I didn't know what I was doing at the time! I didn't even know the kid was in the room!" She collapsed her head onto his chest, mumbling "I'm sorry" over and over again.

Piccolo's arms wrapped around her form. She couldn't take anymore and began to openly sob into the front of his shoulder pads. Piccolo slowly rubbed her back, telling her over and over that it was going to be alright. Her fists gripped his shoulder pad until Piccolo heard fabric rip.  
"It can't be all right." Eli sobbed. "I've done...too many things...too many horrible things."  
Piccolo dug his hands into her shoulders, pulling her face away from his chest. "Listen to me!" he growled angrily. Eli's tear-stained face looked up to meet his fearfully.  
"Kira should not have implemented that training technique to someone so young. It was a risk to teach you to go into a killing daze, and you couldn't help it. Kokori should not have asked you to take care of his dirty business, it was ridiculous for anyone to expect a young child to kill like an adult, or like some kind of attack mongrel. You did only what you were told! It wasn't your fault!"

Eli's eyes averted to the ground as she processed what Piccolo said.

* * *

Meanwhile, Siarra lay in her bed. All night she'd stared at the ceiling. Somehow, she felt numb. Like what she'd seen had really just shocked her so much, it was like she wasn't sure she could ever be this shocked again.

But, from today, Siarra had learned a sick, yet important lesson. Parents really didn't have to love their children.  
" Kira had been Eli's mother, her life-giver. Yet, Kira had laughed when Brutilia had...had..."  
Siarra couldn't complete the thought. She had kneeled over the toilet enough times that night to know not to think about it.

Siarra also felt some form of new found respect for her father. He didn't have to love her. He could've left her in some mountainous area to die of exposure or something like that. But he didn't. That's what made him a father in her eyes; he didn't have to, but did.

Siarra felt goosebumps crawl all over her skin.  
She pulled her blankets closer.

* * *

"How do you know?" She asked quietly.  
"How do I know what?" Piccolo asked back.

Eli looked at him with vehemence in her eyes.  
"How do you know it wasn't my fault? My very existence is nothing more than trouble." she stated coldly.  
"Don't look at me like you don't know what I'm talking about; with Frieza as a sire and Kira as my dam, is it any wonder I'm so hateful...so terrible? Those things I've done...how can you be sure I'm not just pure evil?"

Piccolo knew that wasn't Eli talking. He knew instictively that those words had been drilled into her mind over and over again to break her down. He made direct eye contact with her as he spoke.  
"Eli, if evil is in the blood Son, Vegeta, Gohan, Trunks, Goten, and I would've conquered this place long before you even showed up. I'm a Demon Clansman, and everyone else has saiyan blood, in theory making us all dangerous and evil. We are not because we made the choice to use our power's for the good of this earth. Granted your decision making process has been skewed, it is never too late to change what you are."

Eli stared up at him like she couldn't understand Piccolo. He didn't blame her, he wouldn't understand it either if he had been in her shoes.

"Besides..." Piccolo continued "I know you're not evil."  
That got Eli's attention.  
"How can you know?!" She shouted, simultaneously accusing him of lying, and desperately seeking his answer.  
"Simple..." Piccolo began, looking into her eyes, "I've seen what you've done."

Eli wanted to protest. "What do you...!"  
Piccolo silenced her with a look.  
"I've seen you rush in front of a ki beam to save Siarra, I've seen you put yourself directly in harm's way to protect Chill, and today I saw you willing to die to save Trunks."  
Eli looked up at him wide-eyed.  
"**If**you were evil: you would've let Siarra die, you would've let Chill face Brutilia on his own, or you wouldn't have revived him at all, and if you were evil you would've played dead and let Trunks die today."

"S...so I'm not...terrible?" Eli asked, a relieved smile tugging at her lips.

"What's your plan from here?" Piccolo asked.  
Eli's smile disappeared, revealing the anger she still held for the situation.  
"I'm gonna grab Chill, get my apartment back, and train until I can make Brutilia grovel at my feet." She replied, putting an extra coldness into the last part of it.  
"Hmph. So you've got it all planned out." Piccolo replied coolly.  
Eli turned her head until she looked directly at him. "What did you want me to say? That I'd come live with you, Siarra, Dende, and Popo at the Lookout with my little brother..." She trailed off.  
Piccolo returned her gaze with a smirk. "Your ESP hasn't suffered I see."  
Eli shook her head and laughed a little under her breath.  
"I'm serious." Piccolo said.  
Eli stopped her silent musings and looked at him seriously. "Alright. There's just-one thing," Eli asked.  
Piccolo's eyes urged her on.  
"All Chill's stuff and mine is in Brutilia's basement."

Piccolo's eyes remained focused on hers, did Eli see pity in them?

"You haven't used your ki radar in a while have you?" Piccolo asked solemnly.  
Eli shook her head 'no'.  
Eli stretched her mind out until she couldn't go any farther. "They're nowhere." She said.  
Piccolo sighed. "I lost their signals earlier."  
Eli stood up and began to walk out of the cave. "See you at the Lookout." She said without turning.

Eli leapt out of the cave entrance and flew toward Goku's house. Piccolo smirked in pride. For whom he did not know.


	15. Preperations

Eli stopped mid flight and sank to the ground. It felt like every single voice in her head wanted complete dominance. Dark Self was berating her for what had happened back in the cave. Intuition was trying to frighten her in one way or another. Hosts of other voices joined these two, and Eli's rage was becoming dangerously fueled.  
**"Everyone just shut the fuck up!" **she mentally screamed.  
Every voice quieted down; first to a murmur, and then to nothing.  
Eli sat down on the cold earth, and began to logically pull togetheracoherent plan for these next ten minutes.

* * *

Piccolo slowly pulled himself together and exited the cave. His heart ached for what had happened to these two children.  
Eli; once rebelious and crazy, now the only mother a four-year-old had ever really known.  
Chill; just a child, but Brutilia and Kira had twisted his innocent mind until all he had was Eli. And when he didn't have her, he obviously had some form of paranioa. 

Piccolo began to silently pray that, by some miracle, Frost, Brutilia, Kira, and Icer had died; and were all screaming in the depths of hell.

* * *

Chill growled fiercely at the raven haired woman who had offered him something on a plate. He knew from experiance that people who were being nice, were trying to trick you. He wasn't sure if Eli knew these people; and Chill knew that if Eli didn't know them, he didn't want to know them. 

Chi-chi sighed deeply as the child pressed farther back into the cornor and bared his teeth at her. She'd heard what had happened to Eli, and subsequently what had happened to Chill. She didn't blame him for being distrustfull of others. She hoped either Eli came for him soon, or he'd trust her enough to take the food she offered.

* * *

Eli sat cross-legged on the ground and verbally set out her plan.She'd already decided that it'd be better if she got her and Chill's belongings before she went after him. If she took him with her to the house, she reasoned, there'd be a greater chance of Brutilia getting his claws on him if he was still lurking around.  
She decided, she'd go to The House, pick up their scarce belongings, grab Chill and go to The Lookout. Of course, in the back of her mind, Eli knew this was easier said then done. 

Eli stood in the foliage just outside The House, staring at her prison for two years.Her hands began to shake. She slowly slunk down to the ground and began to 'crawl' towards the basement window. Her breath began to hitch in a way, it was like she was going into the early stages of hyperventalation. Somehow, with her shaking hands she pushed the little swinging window a crack open. Her hand retracted as if she was burned.  
She didn't want to go down there.  
What if they were just masking their ki signatures?What if they were all down there, waiting for her? What if Brutilia was finally ready to follow through with his threat?  
Eli thought that if she had eaten anything in the last day, it would've been coming up at that moment. Her repressed retching yanked at her throat, bringing her back to reality.  
"You can't be scared like this, Eli. " she told herself. "You **have** to go down there and face it. Don't let this rule you!" Her mind screamed.  
In one quick motion, Eli pushed the window back and slunk in.

* * *

Piccolo landed on The Lookout deck. He was greeted somberly by Siarra. Her eyes seemed confused and so far away. It was like she'd learned some form of disturbing truth.  
Piccolo would do anything to remove the knowledge of this truth from Siarra's mind. 

"How'd it go?" Siarra asked, breaking the silence.  
"Fine. Eli agreed to staying up here with us for a while." Piccolo replied.  
Piccolo somehow got the feeling that Siarra was skirting around what she really wanted to say, but what was he to do about it? He couldn't force Siarra to say what was on her mind; he had confidence that she'd talk about it when she was ready.  
Picccolo laid one of his hands on her head, the jade still contrasting sharply with Siarra's chestnut-brown hair. He walked past her.

He barely went four steps when;  
"'Tosan?"  
Piccolo stopped and turned. Siarra caught him around the middle in a great bear-hug. Piccolo slowly stroked her hair as she pressed her faceinto his gi shirt. Somehow, he understood.  
Without speaking, both comforted one another.

* * *

Eli still crawled on her belly towards a stack of duffel bags under the stairs. She was still shaking all over, she didn't know how long it'dbe before she could actually grasp the stupid bags and actually keep a decent grip on them.  
She reached out and grabbed both a black and gray-gold duffel bags. She didn't recall at that moment what had possessed her to pack both her's and Chill's things in these bags; but whatever it was, she was gratefull for it. 

Eli slowly began to back out of the stair cornor. Her heart felt as if it were about to break straight out of her chest. She knew she wouldn't feel any different until she got as far away from this hellhole as possible.  
She held the window open and quickly stuffed the bags through it's frame, while quickly following the bags with her own body.

Eli's nails dug at the ground as she pulled herself and the three bags off the ground. Without any other hesitation she began to run, slinging the bags over her shoulder as she ran. She sprinted as far as she could in the opposite direction of The House. Eli ran and ran until she finally collapsed on her hands and knees on the ground, panting.

Eli looked at the shadows on the ground, from where they were it was safe to assume that it was fairly late in the day. Four o'clock at least.  
"Fuck..." she cursed silently, she didn't want for it to get this late before grabbing Chill.  
"Oh well," she thought. "Better late then never..."

* * *

Chill climbed mournfully onto the window sill. The people at this house had finally given up the idea of talking or feeding him. He was simply glad they had decided to leave him alone for a while.  
Chill leaned his head against the cool windowpane.  
"Sister, please come." He mentally begged. And that's when he heard it.  
Two little clicks, the kind you could make by moving your tongue a certain way against your teeth. He'd mentally trained himself to listen for this sound as long as he'd been under Eli's care.  
The two clicks had been Eli's signal. They meant she was coming, and Chill had long since associated this fact with safety.

Without so much as a second thought, Chill's legs propelled him towards the sound of the clicks. And he'd never been so happy as to slam into his big sister.  
Eli's arms scooped him up and swung him around into a bear hug, she didn't care if it hurt or not.

Having heard the door slam open, Goku was jarred awake from his afternoon nap. His feet skidded to a halt at the door when he saw that Eli was here and no real danger was iminent. He watched as Eli set the boy down and said something to him. The small child began to approach Goku with obvious shyness.  
"Goku-san," The small child said, standing in front of Goku and staring at the ground.  
"Thank you for keeping me out of trouble until sis came and got me, and I'm sorry I didn't trust you." Chill said in avery child-like mannar.  
"Oh it's okay little guy!" Goku exclaimedwith his typical grin plastered on his face. He opened his eyes just slightly, and watched how Eli scooped up herbrother andbegan to fly in the direction ofThe Lookout.


	16. Begining to Heal

It had been four days since Eli and Chill had moved into the Lookout. Eli had assured Chill before they had even arrived at the Lookout that Piccolo, Siarra, Popo, and Dende where 'safe'; meaning he need not fear them. Chill had still been sketchy around them, though. And he still only spoke in saiyan, and to Eli only. But, he was begining to open up just a tad more every day.

For the past four days, Eli had camped out in Siarra's room. This was explained as only a temporary situation and that Eli and Chill could both have their own space. Eli was pretty nonchalant about it. For her, sleeping on a bed was a luxery. But, Eli was getting uncomfortable around Siarra. Siarra was virtually walking on eggshells around Eli, like she was afraid she'd hurt or damage her in some way. And to be frank, it was pissing Eli off. It took four days of this to make her do something about it.

Siarra and Eli both lay on opposite sides of the room, Siarra in her bed and Eli on her basic fold-up.  
"yes." Eli said suddenly.  
"Huh?" Siarra propped herself up on one elbow and stared at her friend.  
"yes, you can hear your own flesh rip." Eli said unmovingly.  
Siarra shut her eyes and shook her head."I wish you wouldn't read my mind like that."  
"And I wish you'd stop holding in what you want to talk about." Eli said sharply.  
Siarra looked at her, shocked.  
"You don't have to worry about me getting pissed about a question, if I want to answer it I'll answer it. If I don't, I won't."  
Siarra sat up on the edge of her bed, and Eli did the same.  
"So whattya wanna know?" Eli asked.  
"Why didn't you tell us? Did you think we wouldn't believe you or something?" Siarra asked.  
"I don't know." was Eli's response. "Maybe at first I thought he'd hurt one of you if I told someone. But the farther it went...I guess I started to believe that no one really would believe me."  
"Okay." Siarra sighed, not fully understanding the answer, but accepting it. Eli could see that Siarra was starting to get a little uncomfortable, so the next question was going to be a hard one.  
"Eli...did...did Brutilia...ever..."Siarra stuttered, gesturing slightly with her hands.  
"You mean did he ever rape me?"Eli asked, finishing Siarra's question.  
Siarra turned a few shades darker as she sheepishly shook her head.  
"No." Eli said. "I'd like to believe that was an idle threat he made every once in a while. But I think if this," gesturing towards her throat, "didn't happen maybe the threat wouldn't have been so idle."  
Both girls sat in silence for several minutes.

"So, Chill isn't your son then?" Siarraasked somewhat shocked.  
if anything could get Eli's attention, that was it. She stared at Siarra in utter confusion and shock.  
"It's just that...you both have the same shape face, same mannerisms, and you act so motherly towards him. I just thought that...y'know..." Siarra trailed off.  
Siarra's and Eli's eyes met and they each held the gaze for three or four minutes, until they both busted up laughing.  
"It's good to have you back Eli." Siarra said happily.

Another week passed. Chill began to talk to more than just Eli, and began to speak more english rather than saiyan. He began to trust more, but he still ran to Eli any, and all, times he felt unsafe or afraid.  
Eli had a more private issue to deal with, she was still afraid. She wasn't able to go from two years of fear, to living happily with her best friend in the course of twenty eight hours. Besides, she believed that if she expressed these fears; Chill would become afraid as well or even more so. Eli had already lost precious hours of sleep because Chill needed some reassurence. Believing it was the best thing to do; Eli bottled every ounce of fear within her being.

It was the next day that Trunks decided it was time to actually see Eli. He hadn't seen her since the Brutilia incident, and he wanted to see for himself that she was okay. He had felt so guilty ever since that. He had been the first to ever capture Eli when she ran.He remembered just how he vented all his frustrations on her, yelling while she was face down in the dirt. And he didn't even remember why he was so pissed. Had he missed his favorite TV show? He was ashamed that he'd been so angry at something so insignificant, when she dealt with something so much bigger.

Trunks arrived at the Lookout, and suddenly felt very alone. He could sense that he'd missed Piccolo; and that he was probably training with Gohan somewhere on earth. Siarra and Chill were on the other edge of the massive Lookout deck. Then he found Eli. His heartbeat quickened.  
He could feel that she was on one of the lower levels of the Lookout, and probably sleeping from the way her ki was pulsating. Trunks crept down to one of the lower levels and quietly searched for Eli.  
Eli was laying with her back to the door, but Trunks couldn't really tell whether she was sleeping or not. He knew that she could send ki off of herself in weird patterns at will, and the last thing he wanted to do was get socked in the jaw for surprising her.

He crept in the room on virtual tip-toe. Eli was asleep, but was also having a serious nightmare. Her body was tight and unmoving, and her jaw was cleched with teeth bared. Trunks felt so horrible.  
"You could've prevented this." He told himself.  
He was so emotional at that moment, that he began to move in robot-like motions; forgetting what he was actually doing.

He laid down next to her and pulled her as close as he could, as gently as he could. Suddenly, Eli's arms wrapped tightly around him, pulling him close as if she were drowning andhe was the last lifejacket in the open sea. He brushed the hair strands off her face, still slightly discolored from the hits she had taken.

Meanwhile, in Eli's nightmare:  
There was no light, just a blackness lit by opaque, blood colored beams. Eli's ankles were bound with chains to the floor. The chains were incredibly heavy, even for her. The inside of the ankle shackles were spiked, so the idea of trying to twist them off would do much more harm then good. Eli could barely see, but she knew they were out there. Every single enemy she'd ever known in her lifetime was lurking just beyond her sight. Any person who ever left any scar on her mind or body was snarling in the dark, waiting for the perfect chance when her guard was to drop.  
Eli turned super saiyan 1, her aura the only thing lighting the darkness. They charged. Freiza, her father lept at her first. Then Kira, Icer, and Frost. Others joined in until it was a full-blown melee.Everyone fratically fought her in the ambush.  
As suddenly as it began, it stopped. They all stopped and faced her with cruel looks in their eyes. Eli got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. The mob pulled into two groups and bowed to the line they had created. Brutilia stepped forth from the darkness. He had a sadistic look in his eyes. Eli stepped as far back as she could, but he just kept coming closer. Brutilia flicked open Eli's switchblade, still dripping with fresh blood. Her fresh blood. Eli missed a step and fell backwards, moving only to get to her knees before Brutilia was right in front of her.  
And then, there was light. Glorious light which drove the darkness away. Eli's enemies hissed like demons and retreated as far away as possible. Brutilia stood shaking for a few extra moments, before he himself joining the others in retreat. Eli looked behind her to see what had caused such a glorious rescue.  
It was an angel. A gloriously handsome angel at that. Hewas wearing a black t-shirt, which showed off all his muscles,and blue jeans. But the thing Eli noticed stood out the most was his lavender hair and blue eyes.  
"Trunks?" She asked meakly, afraid her voice would startle off her savoir.  
The angel bent to one knee and caressed Eli's face with his hand, and nodded 'yes'.  
Eli's arms sprung aroundangel Trunks' shoulders in relief and gratitude. One of her hands wandered to his back, stroking the wings that resided there.His hands roamed down her back, making her feel comfortable and safe.Their hug parted for just a short time as Eli stared into angel Trunks' face, searching for answers to this confusing puzzle.  
And then angelTrunks leaned in and kissed her passionately.

Eli awoke to see she was locked in a passione kiss with Trunks, the actual Trunks. Within seconds Trunks had noticed that Eli had woken up. "Whoa! Eli! I didn't! I mean...I wouldn't! I...I!" Trunks stammered. She placed one finger over Trunks' lips to silence him. "It's good to see you too."

The End.


End file.
